Science

Way too many residents of U.S. nursing homes are on antipsychotic drugs, critics say. It's often just for the convenience of the staff, to sedate patients agitated by dementia. That's illegal.

The EPA moved ahead with far-reaching polices to reduce carbon pollution from power plants. And the president struck a landmark deal with China to curb its carbon output as well.

In San Francisco Bay, researchers are using new technology to investigate shipwrecks. NPR's Scott Simon speaks with James Delgado, director of Maritime Heritage at NOAA, about what they've found.

Inmates in the U.S. have a high rate of infection with chronic hepatitis C — up to 35 percent or more by some estimates. New drugs introduced this year can cure the disease quickly, but at a cost.

For some teenagers, parties with alcohol are almost a rite of passage. Surveys show the vast majority of parents in these homes know the alcohol is flowing. Cities are now cracking down on the adults.

Between 1981 and 2012, 1 million extra twins were born in the U.S. One economist says all of those twins could be hurting the economy — but another expert points out some perks of twinhood.

An experiment in Chicago randomly assigned train and bus riders to either talk to the stranger next to them or commute quietly. The result? Even for introverts, silence leaves you sadder.

The theoretical physicist has been using the same communication system for more than 20 years, until now. NPR's Rachel Martin speaks with Horst Haussecker of Intel about the new and faster technology.

A neurologist's unorthodox thinking led to an experimental drug that allows trapped nerve fibers to grow again. And that growth helps amplify signals that restored movement in laboratory rats.

Did you make a New Year's resolution? If you did, our data expert Mona Chalabi says you're in the 44 percent of Americans who did. She tells NPR's Rachel Martin that keeping to them is another story.

It may seem scientists are aloof geniuses who churn out discoveries. Joe Palca's NPR series, Joe's Big Idea, shows us how science really works. He reviews 2014 highlights with NPR's Rachel Martin.

A handful of ecologists knew for years that West Africa was at risk for an Ebola outbreak. Now they're figuring out where else in the world the virus could be hiding. Many signs point to Asia.